Warriors’ dramatic subplot: Mark Jackson and Jarrett Jack are living and dying with each other

SAN ANTONIO—Why does Mark Jackson trust Jarrett Jack so much, so often, and so fervently?

Simple answer: Because Jack trusts himself as much as any player on earth, through triumph, struggles, forced shots, lost leads and unforgettable, unforgivable defeats.

And Jackson, of all people, believes in the value of soaring point guard self-confidence.

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So while Stephen Curry is the Warriors’ life and breath and Andrew Bogut is their muscle, Jack is the player who matches the way Jackson views and attacks the NBA world.

Basically: Unless you have the guts to take the clutch shot, you’ll never make it.

That faith has often lifted the Warriors, because they need a swaggering play maker to ease Curry’s burden and take big shots at the end of games.

And it can hurt them, too, including the mind-boggling conclusion to the Warriors’ Game 1 double-overtime loss to San Antonio on Monday when Jack was given the ball and couldn’t stop fueling San Antonio’s huge fourth-quarter comeback.

“Hindsight is always 20-20–I had some great looks, I thought, that I normally make that didn’t go down for me,” Jack said after Tuesday’s practice at the AT&T Center.

“Had some plays that now, looking back at it, I probably could’ve gone to or situations we could’ve put ourselves into.”

The essential truth of the Jackson-Jack relationship is that they live-and-die with each other, and if that exasperates Warriors fans, that’s the way it goes.

Everybody wants Curry to shoot almost every time, but that’s not entirely possible. And when nobody else can get a shot, Jackson knows that Jack can and will.

“He’s a gamer and he competed,” Jackson said of Jack’s 10-point, 2-assist, 5-for-15, 3-turnover Game 1 performance. “I thought he handled it well. Like everybody else, made some mistakes. But he’s a gamer and he’s hard on himself…

“Jarrett is going to have the basketball and is going to have to be a play maker for us and we’re totally fine with that.”

Curry is a combo guard who can’t run the point every possession and gets double-teamed in the fourth quarter; Klay Thompson is a pure shooter.

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So the Warriors need Jack to attack the defense in pressure situations. It’s just that in Game 6 against Denver and Game 1 on Monday, he didn’t do it very well.

But Jackson’s point: If Curry is overplayed, who else has the talent and fortitude to try?

“He doesn’t have to tap me on the shoulder,” Jack said of his coach’s support. “I know what he expects of me, I know what my teammates expect of me. I’m just going out there with no worries and no second thoughts.”

Of course, Jackson is often second-guessed in areas that don’t involve Jack. There’s his belief in small lineups and various other strategic wobblings, and now, blowing a 16-point lead with 4:31left in regulation.

Jackson is a flashpoint; there’s also no way the Warriors are in this position without him, and that’s no minor thing in the locker room.

“The main reason why we’re here is Coach,” Bogut said. “It’s not just the players… So for people to be making those judgments is just absolutely stupid.

“There’s a lot of bandwagon fans and media that will just jump on certain things or what’s popular to write about.”

They’re jumping on Jackson now—and that, in part, is a coach’s plot in the playoffs.

Win and every move is genius, lose and you’re a late-game clown. Somebody has to take the responsibility, right?

“I don’t care about that,” Jackson said of his critics. “People are entitled to their opinion. I’m not buying into it.

“Coach (Gregg) Popovich is an all-time coach. Even when he was down 16, to me I wasn’t questioning anything he did. I gave credit to what we did.”

It’s the job and the responsibility—somebody has to have the ball, and Jack and Jackson aren’t running away from any of it.

They’re in this together, they think alike, and if they miss, they’ll miss believing in themselves and each other every millisecond of the way.

“Everybody wants Curry to shoot almost every time, but that’s not entirely possible. And when nobody else can get a shot, Jackson knows that Jack can and will.”

Proven to be false if you watched at all this season. He’s just as apt to dribble into a turnover or bad pass. Also any shot is not necessarily a good shot. The fans want to run a play, move the ball, before the desperation one-on-one. If its curry jack klay Barnes green….it’s fine. Just stop the pounding dribble for 20 seconds then shoot.

Also, plenty of non bandwagon life long fans are critical right now. Team and coach deserve credit for getting here. But everyone’s goal should be winning in the playoffs and contending for a championship. Our attitude is we are here now, congrats, but lets seize the opportunity. It’s not the canned team response “no one thought we’d get this far, no one beloved in us.” 20k fans a night beloved in you in person and many more all season long. Maybe all their lifelong. So please step us, take credit for your success and failures. Right now e whole team is coming off as oblivious to the fact that they might be doing something wrong. Jackson has pushed their confidence to the point of it being unproductive and his attitude is rubbing off in an unproductive way.

TK let Bogut know that it’s not just the bandwagon and national media critcizing the team. If they end up winning it all we who criticized will admit we were wrong and be very happy all the same. We all want to be wrong but it’s hard to deny the results on the court. Full games count. Quarters alone do not.

gizzm

weird how the “superstar” has to defer to this career journeyman in crunch time.
Huh.

NCDub

Right now we’re dying with JJ whose shot is missing & his ball hogging is crippling–pounding the ball incessantly can’t be what JAX wants from JJ…can it?

Mark

I thought Curry looked just as panicked as Jack at certain points. That being said, Jack is the vet and should be steady.

This team did not have a killer instinct all year. I have no patience to look up the statistics, but they had a lot of the same trouble putting teams away this year. Big third quarter leads turning into narrow victories was a common pattern.

Wouldn’t it be great if this team had someone to get the Spurs into foul trouble the way they are doing to W’s?

Bunz

“Curry is a combo guard who can’t run the point every possession and gets double-teamed in the fourth quarter; Klay Thompson is a pure shooter.”

Why exactly is Curry a combo guard? He’s the Warriors’ best handler and distributor. That term is not a compliment TK.

Calbert Cheaney

Jack took quite a few errant shots (5-15) this game, but it’s important to note that the Spurs’ peripheral defense was on point as well. It was difficult for anyone to get separation in the 4th, not only Jack.

I still trust Jack and his moxie. Now if we can just play sustained stretches of defense, I think we still have a chance to steal game 2.

sffranciscan

Great. Jarrett Jack is a disaster: poor shot selection, horrible decisions on both overdribbling and driving the lane when out of control.

He’s killing them.

lime

Scary part is, if they can beat the Spurs, the Dubs might actually have a chance to reach the Finals!

IFHT

18-2 runs in under 5 minutes will get u beat everytime.

JackDribbleKing

I have seen countless times Jack dribbles into a double team in the corner and turns it over, dribbles for 20 seconds and take a bad shot.. i’m waiting for him to shot the ball in the opponents basket to beat the warriors … point guard who is a shoot first, over dribble second, turn over third and pass last is always a recipe for a loss!!

TT

At the end of the day, as Coach Jackson likes to say, Coach Jackson is young, inexperienced, and needs to improve just as much as his players. Hopefully they will all improve together.

TT

Small lineups can work and help the Warriors score points. Big lineups help the defense and can help the offense when the other teams big man is out – see Bogut’s dunks. When you have a huge lead and very little time left, force them to make jumpers by taking away the paint. Just one more stop wins that game.

sffranciscan

@ TT

Don’t kid yourself–they’re not that young: Bogut, Lee, Jack, Landry and Rush are all seasoned veterans, and even Curry is in his mid-20s.

The rookies will improve, and Thompson will certainly get better. But the core of the team is not that inexperienced.

Fresh

Is there any other head coach above the high school level that watches while his Asst coach draws up plays in crunch time? When is the last time the Warriors scored coming out of a timeout…or gotten even a good look? If head coaching in the NBA is all about motivation and not about knowing strategy, why isn’t Tony Robbins being interviewed for a head coaching position?

Ren

The way I see it, the spurs needed two overtimes to Beat the warriors.

Less Worry, More Curry!

During those last critical timeouts, Coach Jackson gave his team a pep talk. Coach Popovich gave his team an inbound play. Both styles work. But it was the inbound play that beat us. But Golden State never should’ve been in that late predicament if Jarrett Jack hadn’t played so sloppily, dribbled so recklessly, took so many desperate shots, and at times been so oblivious to to his other four teammates. Steph Curry is the best player on the court, bar none. When his team goes from 18 points up to tied at the buzzer, in a time span of less than four minutes, it’s a disgrace that the ball was in his hands more times than not than it was in Stephs. Coach Jackson gets the best out of this teams. But he needs to find a way to use Jack without Jack throwing the game away. It’s almost as if Jack is playing half the time for the other team.

NYC Fan

Fresh.

They have scored off of timeouts during the regular season with nice plays. And creative plays. Anyone remember the curry lob from the baseline to bogut. No problem, here (short term) with Malone drawing the plays. It’s been that way all season and Jackson knows how to use the talent round him. He is not that delusional. Problem is if/when Malone leaves an also Jackson surely is part of picking which type of play to call. His main issue has been overall game management in particular managing a lead. Yes we are being hyper critical. Yes this is the playoffs.

NCDub

BTW…all that is needed tonight for a “W” IMO is to limit TO’s, defend the paint & share the ball;

But the problem is they can’t put good teams away, and that comes back to coaching–both the players that the coach trusts (Jack, Landry, even Jefferson) and the decisions the coach makes.

They’ve really improved, no question. But the decisions Mark JAckson makes under pressure are baffling. And it starts with Jarrett Jack, who should not be dominenting the ball–he’s just not that good.

fanfor life

The NBA is ALL about the last few minutes of the game and
Jackson has no strategy or clue for that time–in bound passes,
JJ one on one etc–
The Ws have proven that all of his psych techniques help them
be competitive but you need strategy vs hype to close the deal
and that is clearly missing!!

David Biagini

We probably will not have Jack to kick around next year. He is looking for a longer than one year deal and probably will not get it here.

…scotch

Some of Jack’s ball pounding & thus stagnate offense comes from Jackson giving in game rests to Steph.

Curry literally stands on the perimeter some times, not involved, ‘resting’…so effectively Dubs are playing 4 on 5, which unfortunately, Jack then turns into 1 on 5.

Also imo think it’s a fallacy to think Curry’s getting a rest off the ball. When he is moving it takes a lot more energy to get open running & fighting through screens & the defense is able to HOLD more when Curry’s not handling. (Less likely to get a foul call with the ball in his hands).

Niner

Confidence… Way overrated! Everyone is confident they can win it at the end, but how many Montana elways, jordon and Kobe’s are around? They are rare and few. Jackson is a rookie coach, he is learning like everyone else. Jimmy Johnson , not my favorite coan fer sure, agrees with bill Walsh, in the playoffs all teams are good, it’s the one who makes the fewest mistakes that wins. That’s why wash made them do certain plays over and over again, so under pressure they had less chance of choking. ( see the catch) the fact they played like ” sheet ” at the end of the Denver game shows this team was not prepared! They don’t take care of the ball in the 4th. They have no wise old timer to give them on the court advice. IMO it’s all on the coach and he should man up and admit it. All the rah rah stuff is good and fine, but pop doesn’t seem to need it. ( see contra singletary) some coaching ala Phil Jackson would be way more helpful!

…scotch

Some of Jack’s ball pounding & thus stagnate offense comes from Jackson giving in game rests to Steph.

Curry literally stands on the perimeter some times, not involved, ‘resting’…so effectively Dubs are playing 4 on 5, which unfortunately, Jack then turns into 1 on 5.

Also imo think it’s a fallacy to think Curry’s getting a rest off the ball. When he is moving it takes a lot more energy to get open running & fighting through screens & the defense is able to HOLD more when Curry’s not handling. (Less likely to get a foul call with the ball in his hands).

…scotch

Should of read ‘more’ likely to get a foul call with the ball in his hands.

Fresh

NYC Fan

First off, you didn’t answer the first question, how many coaches above the HS ranks have their assistants draw up plays at the most crucial times? Sure they had a few Aya during the regular season that have worked, a blind squirrel finds a nut occasionally. It’s not as if I’d be mentioning their poor inbound plays calling off time outs if this was the only game they did it. But look back at all the stiff games so far and show me where in a timeout situation where they needed a big bucket, that Malone drew up a play that worked, or better yet just got a good look. It usually breaks down into a turnover, a forced shot or a one on one breakdown resulting in the first two.

Overall game management? They’ve led every game going into the late minutes of the 4q in every game… How is that poor game management. Close games in the waning minutes comes down to coaching. I am far from a Don Nelson fan, but everytjme at the end of games, I knew the Ws would get a good look at the basket if he was drawing a play in the time out. Popavich is a Nelly disciple, and it was evident.

And that doesn’t even consider their poor defense off the Spurs inbounds plays. Everyone in The house knew Danny Green is their top 3 point shooter, yet they allow a wide open 3 to tie the game. Or doubling/misguided switch on Tony Parker running away from the basket leaving Bazemore alone to guard Diaw and Ginobili.

The Ws are just lucky Leonard didn’t deny Curry or the game would have been over much early than double OT.

Good coaches learn from their mistakes… And the Ws haven’t learned from Game 1 in Denver where they have that game away.., to game 3 and 6 where they almost gave away two more. No they keep making the same mistakes over and over. Plus a good coach would wear his mistakes or short comings… Not blame his team, deferring blame elsewhere.

BananaSpartan

Two things:

–Funny how Mark Jackson mentions his home town of New York often, because if he were coaching the Knicks right now and this happened, his ass would be on a platter (right now) and he would be hung if they lost this series (especially in 7 games).

–Jerry West can see who’s a legit coach and who’s not. Right now, I see Mark Jackson as more of a Del Harris in that he’s got great talent but can’t win the big games/series. I’m curious, if the Warriors talked to the big names, right now (Phil Jackson, Van Gundy’s for starters). I’d love to see the Warriors get a guy like Stan Van Gundy, who has coached up his teams.

Lastly, at any level (especially professional), when you lose the same way (particularly when you have above average talent), it’s on the coach. I know it’s tough at times to fire a coach, but way too many teams wait too long to fire a coach (look at Cleveland with Mike Brown).

I hope that the Warriors can come back and win this series, but I think that collapse will be too much to overcome, and it’s a shame it had to happen.

lime

Let Jarrett walk this off-season…as for next season’s back up point guard — MONTA ELLIS!

Barely hanging on in game six versus Denver should have been a major red flag for late game adjustments. Obviously it was not and it burned them the next game. Hopefully tonight we will have a nice lead with some different late game strategy.

WTF

28

“Right now, I see Mark Jackson as more of a Del Harris in that he’s got great talent but can’t win the big games/series.”

GSW was a 6th seed and they beat a 3 seed in Denver. The Spurs
have won NBA titles with Duncan, Parker & Ginobili. This is the first
playoff experience for all the core players except for Bogut’s one
playoff series with the Bucks.

Very rarely do 6th seeded teams win any playoff series. Even if they have “great” talent. If Jefferson makes one FT and they win is Mark Jackson still another Del Harris?

BananaSpartan

31

You make a good point about the 6 seed and the Spurs’ experience. But I watch the game differently from most people. I was upset after Game 6 because I thought the team and Jackson showed they were timid. Then to see the same meltdown is on the coach. Yes, I know that Jefferson making a FT would have put the game away.

Maybe Jackson just needs to be in the situation more times to figure things out, but I see it as more of a disturbing trend and it’s better to cut ties early and bring in a veteran experienced coach.